What we didn't want to see
by Angelica R
Summary: (Sequel to Our defeat) : How did the departed lived their death, as the fact that the Black Fairy won ? How did they react to Emma' death and to their new state of ghosts ? And how did the things go in the world of the living ?


What we didn't want to see.

(Sequel to _Our defeat_ ) : How did the departed lived their death, as the fact that the Black Fairy won ? How did they react to Emma' death and to their new state of ghosts ? And how did the things go in the world of the living ?

English version of "Ce que nous ne voulions pas voir."

Charming never felt that useless. He should have seen that coming before, just after this damn curse was cast, in fact, he knew it a little even though when he was still alive, and in the Enchanted Forest.

They wouldn't win ; at least, not this time. Everything was lost, in fact, they were, him, the prince, the hero of the story, just died. He fell on the ground, falling from the magic bean, and he fell down. At least, he didn't suffer, and died at that moment.

At no moment he thought about blaming Hook, even though this thing, go to the magic bean, was his idea. He was just like him : desperate and ready to do everything to find Emma again. This is just when the pirate told him that there was nothing in the bean that he knew nothing would change their fatal destiny.

They would die, because Emma didn't believe in them, and because they hadn't been enough strong to succeed to go out of the trap in which the Black Fairy send them.

By looking around him, Charming recognized the place where he was, and hadn't even the strength to smile, even not to have an ironic or sad grin.

The Underworld, this place where he would have wanted never come back to, or after a long time, and which would stop him now from going to the Mount Olympus. Because he knew that his unfinished business, no matter what it was, wouldn't be easy to solve.

He then despite that began to hope that, in the world of the living, the other would find a way to flee from this already condemned place.

It didn't happen, and it's just a little time after his own death that the prince saw with surprise appear the members of his family.

With also his wife and his son.

 _§§§§_

Fear, sadness, and pain. That were all the things that felt the former inhabitants of Storybrooke brought into the Enchanted Forest, and who just died. With also a great feeling of deception.

Regina was now taken by a sudden desire to scream, even though it would have been perfectly useless and pointless. They were dead, without any possibility to save the town, or to see Emma and Henry again. She shivered by thinking about the millions of people who just disappeared, just as them, dead because of a fairy who wanted to save her son from the death.

 _They found worst than Gold or Pan, that was obvious_.

The Underworld would now be their new home, apparently, and they could leave it just by solving their unfinished business.

Well… it didn't seem to be that easy.

Snow's face appeared less desperate when she saw her husband, and she threw herself in his arms, trying with difficulty to stop to cry. Regina looked at them with sadness, they were together at least, with their child, whereas she wouldn't be able to see Henry again before a certain time.

Understanding how much they all failed, David also began to cry, embracing the two other members of his family who also died. Thinking also about Emma and Henry, there, in the world of the living, who also must be lost.

(Mainly Henry, in fact, because at least, Emma did forget.)

Zelena seemed to be as lost as her sister, seeming almost to ask herself what just happened : her face became sad as she saw also where they all were. She grimaced. As everyone, and even more than the other, she would have wanted not to come back.

This place had too many bad memories for her so she could be happy there, or even in peace. The loss of Hades still hurt her, and she perfectly knew that she would never be able to cure herself from her wound. Except that she hadn't the choice, it seemed, and she would be forced to stay there for a time.

She looked then at that people who not a long time before were still her enemies, and that she wanted so much to destroy, and that she could consider now as her friends. Or even as her family in the case of Regina.

The witch (or former witch) thought with irony about the fact that the Black Fairy succeeded where she failed : destroy Regina and all her chances of happiness, by separating her from her son. And that she did the same with Snow and Charming. She could have almost laughed of that if she hadn't been with the one who lost.

(And there was also her daughter, whose she didn't know what would happen to her, as this last one wasn't with her. It was her only reason to be a little relieved, the idea to know that her baby was fine.

For now.

She hoped it would continue that way.)

 _§§§§_

For Killian, he seemed to be the more desperate of all, maybe because their presence there was in part caused by his own failure, to him, as he hadn't been able to find a way to come back to Storybrooke. And also as he (kind of) killed his father-in-law.

In the sense where this one fell because of his try, and because he died because of him. But well, as he also died, it didn't really count. It was him, in the end who lost the most things in this story, as he was the one who was the most alone of all.

Snow and David were together and had their son with them. Zelena had her half-sister, but she needed no one. It was different with Regina, and she may be the one who could understand him the most, as she also lost the person she loved the most in her life, Henry (even though she had also her sister and that helped her to accept this loss.)

He wasn't alone, not completely in reality. But the fact is that he just lost everything, in one instant. His world just fell, broke into pieces, and he was powerless against that, not being able to fight. Henry was alone against the Black Fairy, with no person from his family on his side to fight.

Because it was more than obvious that the adolescent couldn't count on his mother to help him against Fiona, especially as the young man wanted to fight her, which was a thing they knew. And they all were afraid for him, as they knew that they couldn't talk with someone from there, and so they had no idea of what was happening.

Their world was in danger, except that in reality, it was not even their world any more, they shouldn't have wanted to try to save it. But how could they not to do that, as all the people they cared about were in danger ?

Regina looked at all this mess, and a deep feeling of despair invaded her. She never felt that alone, and a great coldness took in her.

They were dead. Except Hook, it was the first time for them, and it hadn't been something pleasant. She still remembered the pain, this terrible feeling of horror that crossed her when she had been touched by the wave of magic. Everything disappeared then, and had been reduced to ashes.

Everything was dead ; the worlds didn't exist, just as them. The former Evil Queen stopped herself from shouting, with difficulty, still being in an almost catatonic state.

She failed, to a level she never thought to be possible. In a way, it was the thing that hurt her the most, it wasn't the fact that she died, but to know that Henry was alone. But Regina had also some sympathy for Emma, as she also had many things to loose.

But Emma had ignorance for her, even though the former mayor still didn't know it wouldn't last ; she already knew that the story was over, they didn't succeed to make Emma believe in them.

(But what can you do when you're far from someone and that you can't talk to her or communicate with her, so you can make her believe in things that don't exist from her point of view ?)

There was a great silent now, only stopped by the fast breath of the new departed ; Snow and Charming stopped from crying, and now were looking nowhere, still shocked. They had no plan about how to act for what would happen next, which was normal, as there would be no after.

There was no future for them, it was something they all knew ; and they were conscious that this time, they were the one who lost…

 _§§§§_

They were together.

They were lost, dead, and also completely desperate and miserable.

But they weren't separated, and that, it was better than loneliness.

They were walking, just as ghosts (which they were from the point of view of the living), without being able to act, to sleep or to need to do it. Dead people need to do nothing, and the fact is that becoming boring was, paradoxically the thing they more risked to become, as much being desperate, in fact.

Without really believing to it, Snow and Regina as the others tried to contact at least _someone_ by using one of the phones of the Underworld that would help them with certain conditions to join someone in the world of the living. A thing they didn't succeed to do, at least, according to them.

The truth is that they knew nothing about it, as no one answered. This system was still strange for them, it seemed that no one could talk to them. And this time, they had nor Henry, nor his book with them to reassure them.

(And with that, more than the rest, for Snow and Charming, there was their son who was with them.

It may be _that_ , the worst.

As knowing Emma was alone, and helpless, and maybe without her memories.)

They needed some days before they succeeded to put words on what happened to them, a thing that Snow did first. In fact, it was a little as if they still didn't realize what happened, and what they lost.

It was during a normal day (even though you couldn't really say that there was days in the world of the dead), during which they tried again to communicate with the living.

Suddenly, Snow whispered with a pale voice :

"We lost, right ?

The other turned their head in her direction.

\- Despite all our efforts, the young woman continued, all the things we tried to do and all Henry's tries… it's a failure. The Final Battle… we lost it..."

No one could contradict this, in fact, it was so obvious that in another situation, Regina or Zelena, or even Hook could have made an ironic sentence about the fact that Snow took time before seeing it.

Except that it wasn't the idea, the only true thing was that Snow had been the first to dare to say the things, that way, in a brutal way.

And it meant something else, something none of them succeeded to formulate before this moment.

They lost hope, all hope to succeed to do anything.

And the fact that it had been Snow White who accepted the first this situation, and already gave up was almost as scaring as the situation itself.

Bitterness took Regina when she saw how sad and moved her former step-daughter seemed to be. And she could be, her daughter was far from her, and as the other she had no way to know what was happening in the outside.

Nor how things were evolving.

The fact that nothing happened in the Underworld didn't mean that everything was fine. It was almost the contrary, as death didn't completely mean tranquillity. Their previous trip in the Underworld showed it well.

So, no one was really surprised when Cruella "made her enter" ; they seemed to be since a week in this Storybrooke version Underworld (apparently, Hades' death changed nothing in this world), when they had to go to Granny's so… they would stop from doing nothing and getting bored.

They also saw the blind witch, and other people that didn't seem to pay attention to the fact that they were there. Unlike other, as this "dear" Cruella De Vil. Who was really enjoyed of their presence, but also disappointed by the fact that they were dead.

"Well, well, my dear, she said, ironic, what are doing there? I wasn't expecting to see you before a long, long time !

\- I think that the answer is in the question, Snow said with a sharp tone, angry. We are dead, for which other reason should we be here ?

\- Oh, but it seems she would bite ! Cruella, enchanted that she had someone who responded to her.

\- What do you want Cruella ? Regina asked, also deeply annoyed.

\- Have fun, even though I firstly wanted to be able to come back to the world of the living, but as I can see… you're as lost as I am.

\- Go fuck yourself," Zelena whistled, don't accepting to be treated that way. She would have wanted to send her a spell, but death didn't agree to give her back her power.

A smile appeared on Cruella' face, this one really enjoying the situation ; strangely, Killian and David were the only one to stay calm, looking at the four women having their argument. These last one talked for a time, Cruella mocking at her, sometimes succeeding to say things that were true, without knowing what happened.

Until Zelena was able to support anything more, and punched her in the face ; after that, she left them alone.

This is just not so much time after that things finally changed for them, that is to say after Emma' death.

 _§§§§_

Emma immediately knew she was dead when she saw the environment in which she was, and at first, she felt nothing.

She _was_ dead, and the fact that she decided to scream or not wouldn't change anything to that, so in the first instants, she wasn't able to know what to do. Some instants after that, everything came again in her head, and she blamed herself for her attitude and her stupid choice.

 _Suicide, really Swan, you couldn't have found something better_ ?

No, she couldn't, and she knew it, every hope died the day where the worlds had been reduced to ashes because of her. Death was all that she deserved for that, event though a part of her was trying to convince her it was false.

Emma looked around her and almost burst into laugh. Storybrooke, but version world of the dead. So, less living, of course, but in fact still animated. She was just where she died (well, where she fell) and stayed there without moving.

Shock blocked her where she was, and she didn't move for what seemed to be an eternity. She didn't walk in the direction of the Granny's, she just didn't dare. All of them should be there, at least, the one that liked the place.

Her parents.

And Regina.

Or Hook.

So yes, go there as she was in part responsible of their dead wouldn't fix things.

So, it was better not to do it.

So, she walked, as a lost soul, trying again not to be seen by people ; but the dead didn't pay attention to her. This Storybrooke was atrociously sad, but at least, she had nothing to do, as the other.

Her first days in the Underworld were… really annoying. Since Hades was not here any more, nothing happened in this world, which was better in fact. But it wasn't the place the most animated in the world, and in reality, she was the first to accept to go, and search for her family.

When Emma entered then in the Granny's, they all were there, talking together, probably ready to stay there and not go from it, and they saw her immediately. A mix of joy and horror appeared on their face, as they didn't really know how to react.

No one cried, as they may do it so much before, since they arrived in this world, and there was a great calm as Emma succeeded with difficulty to go next to them, who were still not moving. Finally, all of this disappeared when the new dead threw herself in the arms of her parents.

As she finally said hello to everyone, even Zelena, Emma began to talk :

"I am sincerely sorry, for… for having failed. I wish I succeeded, and that I didn't disappoint you.

\- Emma, this is not the case, Regina assured her. You did as you could, she was just… too powerful to be defeated.

\- We all wish we were able to stay alive, her half-sister continued, but we also failed.

\- This is not your fault, this is because I wasn't able to believe that it happened.

\- We should have succeeded to come back Emma, David said.

\- This is because we didn't do it that this story didn't end well, Snow said then."

They all talked, except Hook : he just embraced his wife in his arms, before he asked her :

"What did really happen after our dead ?

\- How did Fiona defeat you ? Regina then asked.

\- You died because I didn't believe in you, in magic, in Henry, and that despite all his efforts so I would. She walked a little far from them. I came back to Boston, and I think that the worlds fell then. I…

\- What Emma ? Snow asked her.

\- Don't ask me to tell you that, please, I… I don't want you to know.

\- Why ? Zelena demanded. What can be that terrible ?

\- I had been a coward, that is why ! She screamed."

There was another silent, as the other looked at her, perplex. Hook was the first one to dare to talk.

"What do you mean Emma ?

\- Fiona wanted me far from Storybrooke, and to go to Boston, that I flee. And this is what I did ; I gave up you, I gave up all of you, I gave up the town and Henry.

\- How does it do of you a coward ?

\- Because dad, there is also what happened then. What Fiona did : she became Henry's adoptive mother, and when she tried to attack her, she… she put him in a psychiatric hospital."

The other one became pale, by understanding what it must mean ; Regina asked with a trembling voice :

"So… he is still there ?

\- No, Fiona transferred him somewhere, far from me. But when I think about it more and more, I think that it was just a way to manipulate me. Ruby told me what was happening and convinced me to come back.

\- How is she ?

\- She forgot you, she forgot all of you, but she is happy with Dorothy, don't worry.

\- You remembered then, in the end ?

\- Yes, Zelena, by coming back to Storybrooke, I came to the apartment where we lived before, and I found the ring, my wedding ring, and it helped me to remember. But it didn't help me, I tried to confront Fiona, and…

\- And she killed you. Emma' look became painful. Zelena had no idea of how she was wrong.

\- No, she made me understand that you all died and that she won. I swear I tried to fight, not to believe to what she told me, but… it didn't work. She finally made me believe that, about the fact that all of that was my fault, and that I wasn't a good Saviour, and… I couldn't support it.

\- Wait a minute, Regina whispered, alerted and beginning to understand, as all the other, how did you die ?

\- This is why I told you that I had been a coward. When I knew you were dead, I believed that it wasn't lost, and I fought for you, for Henry. But days passed and I was doing no progress, Henry didn't even know that I remembered. I was losing him more and more, I couldn't see him again.

\- And finally ?

\- I definitely lost hope when I learnt Henry would go, and that I wouldn't see him again.

\- You could have found him.

\- I tried to find informations about the place where he was going, but Fiona wouldn't have left me go. I didn't know what to do, so… I gave up… She confessed.

\- You killed yourself, right ?"

Zelena' question was violent and sudden, but at least was very clear ; Emma nodded her head.

"I wished I didn't have to do that", She whispered.

 _§§§§_

The other didn't really take that goodly, and stayed surprised for a time, don't understanding Emma' act. Until she told them what this bloody Black Fairy did to her, how she manipulated her, the fact that she felt guilty, the fact of being alone and helpless.

All of that leaded her to do an act that she now regretted, but what could have she did ? Her magic disappeared, all her family had been destroyed, her friend didn't believe in her, and thought she was crazy, and Henry was far from her.

She had no allies, she couldn't do anything against the new mayor, her act could be seen as cowardly, but also more as a desperate act coming from her. Her future seemed to have no escape, she was there in an impasse, and dead seemed to be the best solution.

No one blamed her for that, if they couldn't really understand what she did, they weren't against her. If all of that hadn't been that tragic, they could have been happy to see her again, as Hook was, who wouldn't be separated from his wife for too long.

She gave her informations about what happened in the world of the living, and it didn't seem to be great. If the other had still a little hope before they saw Emma coming there, about the fact that she could save their town, it completely vanished when she told her what happened.

Fiona took the complete control of the town, and was the only one who used magic, all of that plunged them in a deep despair. Zelena was strangely afraid by the situation, less by compassion toward the inhabitants of the town than toward what happened to her daughter.

"And Robyn, Emma ? Do you know what happened to her ?

\- I'm sorry Zelena, but I was thinking about something else than to go to see how your daughter was.

\- You could have thought about that instead of killing yourself.

\- Sorry, but I was alone, so I am sorry, but I couldn't think about everything.

\- STOP !"

The two women turned back to Regina, who was the one who just screamed, exhausted by the bad atmosphere that was there since some seconds. She sighed with relief.

"Thanks. Now, if you could stop screaming on each other, that would be a good thing. I doubt that it will be with such an attitude that we will succeed to change anything.

\- The problem Regina, this is just that, we can change _nothing_."

The witch said nothing of that, as the pirate was entirely right. They were powerless, with no resources, with no way to know how things were going outside.

According to the counts of the blind witch (who apparently succeeded to know how time passed in the other world), it had been since three months that they were all there. Three months since that Emma died, and that the Black Fairy became the ruler of the town.

Three months, and more than millions of people died, some of them already went to the Mount Olympus. The dead were thinking, trying to think about a way to flee from this place.

(They already did that, no ?)

But dead people don't come back to life, at least, not two times, and it didn't seem that it would be their fate to succeed to do it.

 _§§§§_

In Storybrooke, everything was fine. At least, from a certain point of view : happy endings were rare in the town, except for Fiona and her family, as for some people that she hadn't want to destroy. The fairies didn't escape from the curse, and the former yellow fairy didn't spare them.

Without any surprise, they were the one who suffered the most, being separated from the other, none of them being in a pleasant or enviable situation. Blue had probably one of the worst, she was in prison, punished as she banished Fiona and separated her from her son.

Gold was good, him ; he still remembered, despite what his mother did, and all this story was as good and bad for him. As after the day after the victory of his mother, he often thought about that, about what happened before, what his mother did.

(What him hadn't been able to do.)

It haunted and tortured him, and he had this time not hundred but millions of dead people on his conscious. Conscious that was torturing him more and more, because of what his mother did. As she broke the rules of magic, she also made that her son wouldn't be destroyed by the darkness, as it almost happened, before Emma took his place and became the Dark One.

Darkness were still there, as his magic was still dark, but it would not hurt him any more. But it didn't stop him from suffering, as even though he wasn't someone good, he at least tried to be this against his mother. He fought, with all his forces, and finally failed.

And yes, he often told this to himself, trying to find a way to change this, a thing he didn't succeed to do. He searched more and more, but it didn't change what there was in reality. The story wouldn't end good.

Before, it wouldn't have bothered him, he was the Dark One, he was used to do bad things so he would have his happy ending. But things were different now, as he remembered.

And also because, at the beginning, he wished he did the good choice, to do what was fair. He once knew how to do it, against his father, apparently, it would be harsher against Fiona.

The fight, he already lost it, and he didn't even know now if he still wanted to fight, not when it meant he would lose his happy ending and his family (which was a risk, and it would happen, if he lost or he won.)

Time didn't pass, at least, not really, it wasn't as in the first curse, in the sense that the inhabitants didn't live again all the days the same day, but time did stop.

Gold walked sometimes in town as a lost soul, thinking about the same things, again and again. Six months. It had been since six months that Emma Swan died (because even though he knew it would be useless, Gold still counted the days), and this day, he decided to go to the hospital where his grand-son was. Fiona may not appreciated that, but the wizard didn't care.

Luckily, the man still had power in town, even with the curse of his mother, so he was able to talk alone with Henry. This last one was in a terrible state, not physically speaking, and Gold felt relieved that he didn't see him with what they called in this world a "camisole de force". His grand-son wasn't crazy, but for the other inhabitants of the town, he was.

Henry was alone, no one came to see him, not even his mother (especially not her, when you knew what Henry tried to do to her), and Rumple thought that his mother really didn't know how to goodly play a role. The young adolescent talked, sometimes with Archie ; the psychiatric was the only one who could make him talk.

Gold still wasn't in the bedroom of Henry, as he didn't dare to enter, just seeing him from a far place. Finally, Archie let him enter, and the wizard sat down on a chair, looking what his grand-son was doing, as this one still hadn't remark his presence.

The one who had been the Author was drawing. He could have tried to write, to narrate the story of all of them, but he already tried to do it, with no result. Rumplestiltskin shivered when he saw that this drawing was representing the Black Fairy, in all her horror and her darkness. Internally, the wizard thought that the young boy goodly draw, but also that what he was drawing was always a reference to the tales.

It surely didn't really help to the advancement of his therapy…

 _§§§§_

"Hello Henry", the immortal finally dared to say.

The young man looked up his head that was looking at the paper. By seeing his look, Gold started; what he was seeing wasn't the look of someone sad, or even desperate.

His eyes were full of an ironic light, almost amused, which would have been the case if they had been in another situation.

"Hello grand-pa."

His voice was strangely sharp, and cold, with no emotion. Gold felt a little surprised of it, he wasn't expecting that, to be confronted to a hopeless young boy, far from the young man he knew.

Henry was the hope, the youth and the strength, he was the one who believed the more in the good things that magic could do, and knowing also its limits and weaknesses. So no, Gold didn't recognize in him the young man that fought so the first curse was broken, or who had been manipulated by Pan and naïvely tried to save magic. And the one who fought against him during the rewritten story, even though he knew he wouldn't win.

The new Author was full of strength, as his father, and was his contrary, to him the dark One, who just counted on his magic.

"Tell me, he continued, is everything okay for you ? You found Belle again, I guess.

\- Yes, I did."

This answer was short, maybe too, but Gold didn't dare to say all the truth to Henry : he just couldn't do that. It wasn't cowardly, but he just wanted to protect his grand-son from the truth, from the fact that his father was _alive_ again. Neal was back, but he didn't remember him and the wizard refused to do that to his grand-son.

Because to say to him that his father was there again would have been a terrible mistake, because it would have allowed Henry to hope again. Which just couldn't be a good thing for him, as this hope would soon disappear, as Neal couldn't do something for him.

(And he would do nothing, except if he remembered again.)

You couldn't say that Gold didn't try, it was even the contrary. He couldn't use magic again, because of the bracelet, but he still had the ability to do potions, as some spells.

(No enough powerful to let him fight Fiona, of course.)

A memory potion seemed to be a good idea for him, even if there was a risk that what would come then wouldn't be good to him. One day, he did one, so Neal would at least remembered he had a son, but it didn't work.

He waited, afraid, facing his son, careful, and persuaded that his son would remember, that a new light would appear in his look, and that finally he would shout at him, reproaching him what happened.

But nothing, absolutely nothing was there, and the wizard didn't know how to react with that, not knowing if he was relieved or not.

(In reality, he was, it even allowed him to be okay with his conscious, because at least, he tried, no ?)

But what he felt toward Henry's situation didn't disappear, and that was why he was there.

"I am not crazy grand-pa, you know that.

\- I know Henry, as you do.

\- Can you help me to go out from there ?

He wasn't completely surprised, he goodly knew that his grand-son wouldn't give up.

\- No Henry, you know that my mother has the control of this town.

\- Oh, that's funny, I thought it was _my_ mother ?"

Gold raised a surprised eyebrow, not knowing if Henry was referring to his real adoptive mother, that is to say Regina (who was the true mayor) or to the fact that Fiona was supposed, according to the curse, to be his mother. He decided it must be the second option.

"What do you want me to do ?

\- That you try to break the curse.

\- You think I didn't try ? Asked Gold, half disappointed. His grand-son gave him a stupefied look.

\- What didn't work ?

(At least, he believed in him.)

\- She is too strong for me. Henry, I am sorry… I failed.

\- You think she can be defeated ?"

For a second, Gold thought about the idea, even thinking about a way to do it, before he nodded his head. It wouldn't happen.

"No Henry, I have doubts about it.

\- What if it was the case ?

\- This is not possible, we, we can't.

\- My mother died gram-pa."

To these words, Rumple shivered, and for a moment he thought he was seeing Bae facing him.

"My mothers died, and the one who replaced them is monstrous. My family had been almost entirely destroyed, because I couldn't fight the Black Fairy.

\- Don't say that Henry, you're just a kid, you couldn't do that.

\- Oh, you think so ? And even though it was true, tell me gram-pa, _how can I live with that_? How can I do it, live with this culpability that I killed, that I destroyed this family, that I am in part responsible of their death ? HOW ?"

The wizard couldn't answer to that, as he himself had no idea of how to do that.

 _§§§§_

After they said everything, they had nothing else to say, and it's a disappointed Gold that left the hospital, deciding that he would work for some hours. The problem seemed to be impossible to solve ; Henry and him needed someone who would believe in magic, and help them to take the anti-magic bracelet that Gold had on him.

(This is just with an exterior person that they would do that, knowing the mayor wouldn't be suspicious, certain as she was that she was the true ruler of the town.)

It was a complicated task, almost impossible, and this evening, desperate, the wizard walked alone in the town, not paying attention to where he was going.

And if he, not knowing what to do, let some of his blood sink in the lake, it wasn't really voluntary, and what happened then, that is to say the materialisation of some of the dead as ghosts, it wasn't coming from him.

(Or, well… in fact it was.)

The way to open the Underworld is something complex, and to make the dead come back, you need to do some things. Here, it wasn't the intention, and a passage stayed open for a time, and it allowed to some people who died to come back as ghosts.

And it was of course the case of Emma and the other…

All of this didn't happen rapidly, in the sense where they didn't come in town just like that (and the ghosts were invisible for almost everyone), it took much more time.

In fact, it was needed that the dead themselves realized what was happening. A thing that didn't happen immediately, they took time to understand that.

Zelena was the first to make this experience, during a calm and peaceful day in Storybrooke. She was walking, still alone, thinking about her daughter, torturing her own mind, and imagining the worst about the place where she could be. She wasn't listening what was happening around her, as she finally learned not to hear the voice of the other.

So, she took a time before she realized that she wasn't in the Underworld. In fact, the former witch didn't see it by herself, her look went without seeing what was around her. She was indifferent to it, being sometimes not far from Gold's shop, and then next to home office.

She was walking without purpose, until an afraid Regina came in front of her, and embraced her in her arms. Surprised, the young woman asked :

"Can I know what is happening to you, _sis'_ ?

\- You disappeared, the witch answered, going far from her, but still trembling.

\- What, what do you mean by that ?

\- I couldn't see you, you just vanished under my eyes ! Regina exclaimed.

\- I don't understand, the other answered. I felt nothing.

\- Maybe, but I know what I saw."

When they talked about it to the other, Snow softly dared :

"You may not not goodly seen."

The former Evil Queen rolled her eyes, annoyed that they didn't believe her.

"This is not the case ! My sister disappeared for a time, I called her many times, but she didn't answer, and I didn't see her before she reappeared."

The other looked at her, sceptical, and the former Mayor, and she muttered something about the heroes and their inability to believe. Some days after, it happened again, but with someone else.

Snow appeared suddenly in the Granny's of the world of the living, and it's just by hearing Ruby's voice that she knew where she was.

The princess opened again and again her eyes some seconds, her breath stopped and she stayed frozen, before one the clients went through her, and it made her start, but she didn't feel it. She succeeded to move again, and looked around her, moved.

 _It was_ Granny's, as it was in her memories, and in the reality. Finally, she looked at herself, and contained a cry of surprise. Her body was different, in fact _she_ was different.

Fascinated, she looked at her left hand, that was translucent and _blue_. That was what she was seeing now, and she knew what she became.

A ghost.

Or it seemed, and according to her memories, she looked like the young version of Cora that they once summoned. For a moment, a short and weak hope that she had been called so that was why she was there began to appear in her.

Except that it couldn't be the case, or she would have felt in a violent way her passage from the world of the dead to the one of the living. And the place wasn't good to call a ghost, and there was nothing to do that there.

A moved smile came on her face when she recognized Dorothy with her dear friend Ruby, and her smile became larger by seeing that they both seemed to be happy. It was what Emma told them, and despite their defeat, and the fact that they died, the former thief felt a great feeling of relief.

There seemed to be not many things that goodly worked in this town, so this one did work, and it was a good thing. And then, the things finally assembled in her spirit, and she understood that Regina said the truth.

But, as no one saw them, it wasn't really useful. She tried despite this not to let herself be depressed by that, it would at least allow them to see again the one they loved. Snow, not knowing how many time she could have, or how many time she would be able to stay, stayed where she was, and looked at her friend's happiness.

This one was talking with Dorothy, she was smiling and laughing and her eyes were shining with a joy that Snow almost never saw in her. A bitter sensation mixed with joy invaded then the new ghost, before she came again in the Underworld.

They all had to accept after what she told them that it couldn't be a coincidence, not after two times, in fact, and to say the truth, no one could really know how to react to this new.

That could be a gift, allowing them to see the one they cared about, and say goodbye to them one last time.

But when you thought about it two minutes, it was just a terrible poison, as of course, these people _couldn't see them_ , it was more useless than something else. So, except that if they could talk with the living, the fact that they could come back in the true Storybrooke wouldn't allow to them to do something with that.

To see the other could almost be worst, because of the curse; if this last one didn't exist, there would have been just the pain, and nothing else. But there, there was also the feeling that they lost, and the fear that something bad happened for the inhabitants of the town, especially for Henry.

So, finally, it didn't help them, it was almost worst, as they sometimes saw things they didn't want to see or that they couldn't stop.

The one of them who suffered the most from that was probably Zelena, as she finally learned where and especially with who her daughter was. It couldn't had been worst.

(Well, yes, if her daughter had been with Gold, indeed, it would have been terrible for her.)

Robyn was with Fiona. The one who send her to death, who cast the curse, was the one who would "raise" her daughter.

The young woman didn't know if she would hurt her daughter or no, but the fact is that _it shouldn't be a coincidence._ It should be coming from the fairy herself, there was no other explanation.

(Or she was just paranoiac…

That could be a possibility.)

She lost her daughter forever, and it was _that_ , the worst, because except if the curse was broken, this situation would be the same forever.

And then, at that moment, Zelena finally understood the true sense of the world hell, and its more horrific sense.

 _§§§§_

Regina was also one of the people to have the possibility to come back to the world of the living, some days after. To see Henry again, of course.

The experience was mainly bad and terrible ; there she knew how alone he was.

Alone, and desperate.

Since Gold came to visit him, Henry definitely lost hope, and stayed all the time in the silent.

This day, he had to see Archie, and he talked, more than he did usually, trying with all his forces to make Archie admit the truth.

Is it useful to say that it didn't work ?

She was hearing to him, with tears in her eyes, as she had the impression to see him again when he was ten years old, and when he was already fighting against the world and that no one believed in him.

But it was worst.

Henry had no way to go out of it, except by not telling the truth.

But Henry would never do that.

And even though she was proud of him for his courage and his strength, she asked to herself if she wanted him to talk, or to stayed mute.

At no moment she was able to find the answer.

The ghost began to cry, looking at her son, moved.

"Oh, Henry, she whispered. I am so, so sorry.

\- Henry, I have the impression that you don't want to get better.

\- Of course Archie, except that you don't understand that _I am okay_.

\- Please Hopper, leave him alone.

\- It's not true Henry, as long as your mother didn't decide that you're okay and that you don't stop to try to hurt her, you won't get out of here."

Regina never knew so little how to react. She was staying there, without moving, and still crying.

Her son needed her, and she was there, without being able to do something, and she blamed herself for that.

And she wasn't the only one.

Another day, later, Emma was the one to feel it, facing Henry, again during a talk with Archie, but Henry didn't talk, he was just drawing, and Archie was looking at him.

Emma smiled, seeing her son again for the first time since a long time ; she was a little bitter when she understood that the fairy did lie to her, and she blamed herself for being so stupid to believe what she told her.

After a moment, Archie left, leaving Henry alone, still drawing, and who apparently chose to stay silent, definitely. Emma saw it as an occasion to take Archie's place, looking with attention at what her son was drawing. It didn't surprise her that he just draw their story, that is to say them.

Well, mostly her. A wave of emotion crossed her when she saw that he was drawing her and Killian, during their wedding, and her heart broke when she realized all the things that Henry tried to do to try to make her believe.

Her culpability of having failed came again in her, and she began to tremble.

"I believe now, Henry, she whispered, knowing she would have no answer. I believe in it. In you, in magic, in all the things that you told me."

Her act was useless, she knew it, clearly, but she continued despite that. Because she needed it, even though it was false, she wanted to show to Henry that what he did hadn't been vain.

"I love you Henry, I love you, and even though I am dead, I will continue to fight for you."

In a gesture as absurd as automatic, the Saviour put her hand on her son's arm, and couldn't stop herself from sighting with deception when she saw her hand went through it.

"I am sorry, she whispered, with a broken voice. I am so sorry not to be here, not to be able to help you. I wish I was here, with you."

To apologise wouldn't be useful, it had no true sense, as it wasn't her fault. It was coming from the Black Fairy and no one else, and the Saviour's hatred against her was just growing.

Emma lost more and more her desire to fight, and it was worst as time passed. Exactly as before her dead, in fact.

Since some time, they knew more or less how to go to the world of the living, and were beginning to become used to their state of ghosts.

In a way, being there was killing them more. As they were powerless, and desperate. All of them lost something in this town, something they cared about, their life in general.

Their happy ending.

Their friends, that forgot them.

And also all their chances to be able to build something.

Some of them were thinking that in reality their ability to come back was not a good thing and that it was a punishment coming from the Black Fairy to plunge them more in despair.

Emma was not far from thinking that, as she was still looking at Henry, without being able to stop to see him. She took time before she realized she was crying.

And so, trembling, she finally decided to go out, walking nowhere, and crossing people or walls, before she was able to leave.

She didn't say goodbye to Henry, as it would mean nothing, he wouldn't hear her. Her son was there, just next to her, closer from her than when she was alive, _and he didn't even know that_.

Henry now was drawing something else, maybe not to forget, someone else from his family.

His father. As he was afraid to forget all this story, he draw what he remembered, representing what he looked liked, as an adult, or as an adolescent.

Ignoring of course that this last one was alive, but as he was denied by everyone and that no one believed him, at least he would try not to forget, and to preserve the memory of his father. What he wanted, it was to do it so no one would forget him (event though Gold too was there.)

That no one forgot the other too.

He wouldn't.

Emma was alone, in the street, walking without paying attention to the other, as she was used not to be seen.

After that she saw everything she wanted to see (clearly, after she saw what she lost and would never have again), she decided to leave.

She didn't pay attention to Gold, who didn't do it either, not really.

Then he frowned his eyebrows, intrigued, almost sure that he saw something.

He was certain of that, he saw something, in front of him, or someone.

A blond hair too recognizable, that seemed familiar to him, and that reminded him of someone.

Then, he shrugged with an indifferent air.

Well, that just must be his imagination...


End file.
